If we had to describe lambic beers in one word, we'd probably go with "funky." Yes, funky! This beer has a little something extra over those other beers, making every bottle unique and incredibly fun to drink...
Most commercial beers are made with carefully selected strains of yeast, but brewers of lambic beers leave things up to chance. Belgian lambic beers are left in open vats where wild yeast and bacterias are allowed to take up residence. Once the fermentation process begins, the beer is stored in barrels and left to age for up to three years.
The result is a distinctly sour beer with mild carbonation, a cloudy appearance, and a thick mouthfeel. In a word, funky. Think of the difference between bread made with commercial yeast verses bread made using a sourdough starter and you'll start to get the idea.
Although it's not a requirement, many lambics are also fermented with fruits like raspberries, apricots, and even muscat grapes. This adds another layer complexity to the beer, balancing the sour brew with tart and sweet fruit flavors.
We think lambics have gotten an unfair reputation in recent years for being overly sweet and syrupy. In fact, many producers have started adding fruit syrups directly into the beer instead of fermenting with whole fruits. Some beers made this way are decent, while others justify their cloyingly sweet reputation.
It's worth doing your homework and seeking out quality lambic beers. The Beer Advocate, based in Boston, has an exhaustive list of both fruit and unblended lambics rated by the community and Eric Asimov's 2006 article from the New York Times also makes some good recommendations (links below).
We've only had the chance to try a few lambics ourselves, and we're very eager to try more. They make an excellent after-dinner beverage, particularly if paired with fruits that have been poached in the same beer!
Are you a fan of lambic beers?
• Lambic Fruit Beers from the Beer Advocate
• Unblended Lambic Beers from the Beer Advocate
• "Lambics: Beers Gone Wild" by Eric Asimov, including recommendations
Related Ingredient Spotlight: Cooking with Beer
(Image: Flickr member lesscrafted licensed under Creative Commons)
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YUM, looove lambic framboise, such a nice treat!
Yes!! Sour beer styles, like lambic, flemish sour ale, or berliner weisse, are my favorite!
Lindemans makes a decent gueuze at a pretty low price for lambic - their "Cuvee Rene Gueuze". They're a decent option because their stuff is somewhat ubiquitous and on the cheaper end, but their widely-available fruit lambics vary a lot (that peche in the pic is one of their better ones).
My favorite (and available in NYC) breweries/blenders are 3 Fonteinen, Cantillon and Hansens. All 3 use whole fruit, rather than syrup, which means that they're tart but not sweet.
The best part about going to Belgium was paying only a few bucks a bottle and gulping it out of a glass.
"Glass" meaning tumbler, rather than a tulip glass.
I'm normally not a beer person, but I really took to a strawberry lambic during a trip to London. It was like a bouquet of fresh fruit.
Normally, I can only drink a quarter to a half of a bottle of beer but I LOVE lambic. TJs sells one that's kinda sweet, but not bad. The brand pictured above, I think.
It's definitely on my "To drink" list right along with hard ciders.
Lindemann's lambics are extremely sweet and not generally a good representation of the lambic style. Just putting that out there so people know what they're getting.
I usually recommend a flanders red ale for people who like wine but haven't found a beer they like. For people who like beer, but just want something a little more sour, flanders brown or oud bruin is a nice treat - if you can find them!
Love lambics, especially kriek (cherry)!
The type in your picture above are the only drinks labeled "beer" that I will consume.
Don't like most beers at all and rarely find a wine I like, but Lambic's? Ooh I'm in! Esp their raspberry...yum! If you haven't tried it, do! I was pleasantly surprised and rapidly addicted.
yuk! i hate the stuff...
when I was in Belgium i took a tour of one of the oldest lambic breweries, the brewing and natural fermentation was really interesting, but the the stuff is just not my thing.
I'll have to give them a try now. I'd always seen them and have been curious, but with the fruitiness I figured they were a 'girly non-beer' in the vein of wine spritzers.
I was 19 in London for the summer, & was bought a Lambic one night at a club where Boy George was spinning...HA!
It was quite a night-
Lambics are the only 'beer' I'll drink... I had them at my wedding instead of champagne. Wonderful.
Love love love true lambics, such as Cantillon. They not only use real fruit, but they add the syrups in *before* the yeast ferments all the sugars, so only the essence of fruit remains while a wild, sour, crisp, refreshing beer dominates. Lindemanns shouldn't be considered a lambic, as they add syrups *after* the beer is already made, which results in the soda-like fruit bomb. Nothing wrong with liking those, but they're not at all like a real lambic, made with wild yeast and centuries of traditional brewing.
I've never been satisfied with a lambic that came out of a bottle.
I only drink them if I can get them on tap. It is worth the extra effort to find a 'beer proud' sort of restaurant or beer garden. Good luck!
Ooooo...I LOVE lambics. Peach and framboise are my two faves. And if you've never had a Framboise float (vanilla ice cream with framboise lambic) you are missing out.